Cloud computing involves sharing of computing resources that are generally accessed via the Internet. In particular, the cloud computing infrastructure allows users, such as individuals and/or enterprises, to access a shared pool of computing resources, such as servers, storage devices, networks, applications, and/or other computing based services. By doing so, users are able to access computing resources on demand that are located at remote locations in order to perform a variety of computing functions that include storing and/or processing computing data. For enterprise and other organization users, cloud computing provides flexibility in accessing cloud computing resources without accruing up-front costs, such as purchasing network equipment, and investing time in establishing a private network infrastructure. Instead, by utilizing cloud computing resources, users are able to redirect their resources to focus on core enterprise functions.
In today's communication networks, examples of cloud computing services a user may utilize include software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) technologies. SaaS is a delivery model that provides software as a service rather than an end product. Instead of utilizing a local network or individual software installations, software is typically licensed on a subscription basis, hosted on a remote machine, and accessed as needed. For example, users are generally able to access a variety of enterprise and/or information technology (IT) related software via a web browser. PaaS acts an extension of SaaS that goes beyond providing software services by offering customizability and expandability features to meet a user's needs. For example, PaaS can provide a cloud based developmental platform for users to develop, modify, manage and/or customize applications and/or automate enterprise operations without maintaining network infrastructure and/or allocating computing resources normally associated with these functions.
Within the context of cloud computing solutions, users may be asked to deal with ever increasing amounts of collected data. The amount of data collected in today's cloud computing solutions may be orders of magnitude greater than was historically available. Users tasked with automating enterprise, IT, and/or other organization-related functions (e.g., incident tracking in a help desk context) may need to navigate the ever increasing amounts of data to properly and efficiently perform their job functions while providing robust data security and privacy capabilities. For instance, being able to search and query results from fields stored in tables and/or documents relevant to a user can be beneficial for efficiently managing data stored within a cloud computing environment. However, some data within a cloud computing environment may be sensitive or confidential information that an enterprise desires to restrict access to. As a result, continually improving a user's ability to perform queries that address at least these and/or other issues relating to managing, utilizing, and controlling access to potentially large data sets remains valuable in enhancing cloud computing services.